Contact details
How to find us
The Chemotherapy Suite & Oncology Outpatient Department is located in area N.
You can access both departments from 3 different entrances:
- From the South Entrance, turn left onto the Hospital Street corridor. Proceed along the corridor passing the pharmacy, Eat Street, Talbot Butler Ward & Haematology Day Unit. When you reach the end of Hospital Street, turn right and proceed up the hill. You will find the Oncology Centre on your right.
- From the Billing Road Entrance, proceed along the corridor until you reach a T-junction. Turn left and follow the corridor, bearing right when you pass the PALS office and continuing down the slope, on your left you will see the Oncology Centre.
- There is also an entrance near car park 5. Proceed in From Billing Road past the Centre for Elderly medicine, car park 5 can be found on the right. Continue past the car park and you will come to a T-junction. The Oncology Centre can be found on the right.
You can use our hospital map if you need assistance with finding your way around the hospital.
If you are on active treatment and need a parking permit, please ask one of the nurses in the Oncology Outpatient Department.
There are also a limited number of designated spaces for our oncology patients near the Oncology centre entrance. Proceed in From Billing Road past the Centre for Elderly medicine, car park 5 can be found on the right. Continue past the car park and you will come to a T-junction. Turn left, at the bottom of the slope you will see a car park. To the left you will see designated, sign posted spaces (for oncology patients only).
Opening times
- 08:00 – 18:00
- Monday to Friday
- Open on some Bank Holidays
About us
When attending for either treatment in the Chemotherapy Suite or for a clinic appointment in Oncology Outpatients, we ask you to please report to reception. At reception one of the reception team will complete a covid triage tool. Depending on your appointment the receptionist will ask you to go straight through to Chemotherapy Suite, or wait in the waiting room for your clinic appointment.
Oncology Outpatient Department
Consists of 12 examination rooms in the clinic area.
When the Clinician is ready a Health Care Assistant will come to the waiting area and call your name and guide you to the room where the Clinician will be waiting.
Apart from the Doctors, working in the area will be Health Care Assistants who will assist with coordinating clinics. You may also see in the department Pharmacists and Macmillan Nurses.
Due to current situation with Covid-19 some appointments are face to face and others are telephone appointments, you should be made are when the appointment is booked.
Chemotherapy Suite
Consists of 20 chairs. Most days our chairs are used to capacity, creating a busy environment. A number of Registered Nurses and a Health Care Assistant will be working in the department on a daily basis, supported by the pharmacy team, a Doctor, Hair and Beauty Co-Ordinator and from time to time members of the Macmillan Team.
You can find out more information on chemotherapy, including side effects and what you should do prior to your treatment on the chemotherapy page.
At the current time we do ask that you please attend your appointment in the Chemotherapy suite alone.
Chemotherapy is treatment with drugs (cytotoxic) which destroy cancer cells. These drugs are given by injection, drip or tablets. Sometimes this involves a hospital stay but most chemotherapy is given to you as an outpatient, either in clinic or treatment suite. How often you have treatment will depend on the drugs that are recommended by your specialist doctor.
Sometimes chemotherapy can cause side effects and increase the risk of you developing a serious infection. Other side effects that may occur are nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, tiredness, sore mouth, skin rashes and hair loss. The side effects experienced will very much depend on the drug that you receive; the medical and nursing team will fully inform you of what you may expect during treatment.
There are effective medicines and treatments to help minimise side effects and any symptoms would be closely monitored by the team of doctors and nurses who will offer advice and support.
Prior to starting chemotherapy treatment your oncologist/haematologist will give you both written and verbal information about the drugs you will receive and you will have an opportunity to ask questions.
You will also have a pre-chemotherapy assessment appointment with a chemotherapy nurse. The nurse will tell you more about chemotherapy and your particular treatment.
You will be told how your particular treatment will be given to you (tablet, injection or drip) and any possible side effects to expect. If hair loss is associated with the chemotherapy recommended for you then the nurse can discuss the options you have available. This could include referral to the hair loss advisor to discuss your preferences for a wig if you wish.
Patients receiving chemotherapy are encouraged to ring our 24 hour advice line for telephone assessment if they experience certain selected side effects, this will be explained fully and contact information given during each pre-chemotherapy assessment.
add immunotherapy?? ask Sarah Reitel
Change name of 'Pre-chemotherapy assessment' - SR to advise
Management
- Clinical Director: Dr Harieta Garofide
- Directorate Manager: Jemma Moody
- Assistant Directorate Manager: Mavis Hammond
- Associate Director of Nursing: Jo Smith
- Lead Nurse: Vicky Cartwright
- Sister: Bethan Read
- Admin Manager: Amie Gillespie
Emergency Assessment Bay (EAB)
EAB is a service which patients can contact via telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service ensures our patients have access to advice of how to manage complications, and or side effects of their treatments in a timely manner. A Registered Nurse will triage you over the phone and advise accordingly. The advice may be to self-manage at home with the appropriate medications, or you may be advised to go to EAB to be reviewed by the team.
The EAB is located in area G on Talbot Butler Ward.
At the current time the EAB do ask that if you need to be reviewed please attend alone as no visitors are permitted at present.
More information is available on the Talbot Butler / Emergency Assessment Bay (EAB) page.